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McKittrick made peace with Long before death
Matt Maiocco
Times Staff Writer
03.21.2000
REDWOOD CITY -- Longtime 49ers offensive line coach Bobb McKittrick died last week without an enemy.

Former Raiders defensive lineman Howie Long said he never held a personal grudge against McKittrick, whose blocking techniques infuriated the Hall of Famer more than a decade ago. But Long still was the last person with whom McKittrick felt he had to make amends.

McKittrick died Wednesday after a 14-month battle with bile duct cancer. He was 64.

McKittrick was known for molding undersized and overlooked linemen into the foundation of some of the great offenses in the NFL. But he also found himself at the center of controversy because of the blocking techniques he taught. Long was outspoken against McKittrick's use of cut-blocking -- a legal method of attacking a defensive player at the legs to try to get him on the ground. Long went after McKittrick in the tunnel after a 1985 game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

About a month ago, former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana called Long and asked him to give McKittrick a phone call.

"I think Bobb had expressed to Joe that he wanted the opportunity to talk to me," Long said Monday from his Pennsylvania home. "So I called Bobb that night. It made me feel good to talk to him, and from what I could tell, it made him feel good, too.

"The biggest compliment I can give him is that I hope I'm one-tenth as courageous as Bobb in that conversation he had with me and how he handled himself when faced with his own mortality."

The Rev. Pat Richey, the 49ers' chaplain for 18 years, had a long conversation with McKittrick three weeks ago when it appeared McKittrick might die in the next couple of days. McKittrick told Richey that he had spoken to Long and resolved whatever differences might have remained between the two.

"They talked about it for no time at all," Richey said Monday after a 90-minute private memorial service for McKittrick at St. Pius Church. "Bobb told me that they had a great conversation and they only talked about the incident for a second. It meant a lot to him."

Long said he did not realize McKittrick was in such bad shape until speaking with him. He said he still thought McKittrick might be one of those people to beat the odds until he learned last week of his death.

"I had no problem with Bobb McKittrick personally," Long said. "Our battles were on the football field. I can turn that switch off when I walk off the field. I expressed my respects for him as a person and as a coach. I wanted him to know that I had no animosity. I was touched that he wanted to speak with me.

"We talked very little about football. We talked about our kids. I have three of my own and he talked about his kids a little. We talked about life. And he was very congratulatory of my being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I thanked him for that."

Bill Walsh, George Seifert and Steve Mariucci, the three head coaches during McKittrick's 21 years as an assistant with the 49ers, were the first three speakers during the memorial service, attended by approximately 250 friends and relatives.

Former 49ers offensive linemen Harris Barton and Jesse Sapolu, as well as McKittrick's son Ladd and his best friend, Mike Doherty of Baker, Ore., also eulogized McKittrick.

The service was attended by many current and former 49ers players, including Montana and Ronnie Lott. Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green, who shared an office with McKittrick as a 49ers assistant in 1979, also attended.

McKittrick maintained his indefatigable spirit and work ethic even as his failing health forced him to work half days and skip road trips. On Nov. 21, he finally missed his first 49ers home game after undergoing surgery the previous day.

"This most recent year was his most impressive year," Mariucci said, "because what he did goes far beyond commitment, loyalty and dedication; far beyond courageousness and toughness; far beyond optimism and persistence. In so many ways, he took coaching this year to a whole new level."

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helor's degree in agriculture and a
Master's degree in education at Oregon State, where he played
football and served briefly as an assistant coach following a
three-year term in the Marine Corps.

Originally, McKittrick got involved in coaching because the
football job paid $450 a year more than he earned by teaching. He
followed head coach Tommy Prothro from Oregon State to UCLA and
eventually to the San Diego Chargers, where he first met Walsh,
another assistant on Prothro's staff. Walsh left San Diego to coach
at Stanford but, two years later, he became the coach of the 49ers
and hired McKittrick.

McKittrick was known for teaching his smaller linemen to block
low on defensive linemen to try to get them down on the ground. The
technique is called cut-blocking or leg-whipping, depending on who is
describing it. Defensive linemen hated it, and former Raiders
defensive lineman Howie Long, who was voted into the Hall of Fame in
January, once tried to attack McKittrick following a game.

``Typically in the NFL, linemen would like to play the whole game
standing up,'' Walsh once said. ``They prefer never to have to go to
the ground. Well, we went to the ground and we cut people down, and
we hit people around the ankles. (Opponents) have not liked that
approach.

``There are just very few coaches who were willing to teach those
techniques. They're more physical and tougher to execute than
everybody standing up and pushing each other around.''

Several former 49ers assistant coaches who left the team to
become successful head coaches elsewhere credited McKittrick as a
significant factor behind the team's long run of dominance. Jon
Gruden, now the Raiders' head coach but once a 49ers assistant for a
year, said he learned more from McKittrick than any other coach in
the league, calling him ``the smartest coach in football.''

Two Super Bowl-winning head coaches, Mike Holmgren of Seattle and
Mike Shanahan of Denver, were trained in the nuances of Walsh's West
Coast offense by McKittrick when they joined the 49ers as offensive
coordinator.

``He's unique among line coaches,'' Holmgren once said. ``One, he
doesn't ever curse, never swears. He's a very bright guy, a voracious
reader and writer.

``At the same time, he is really flexible, really a good man to
work with.''

That McKittrick managed to last two decades under three head
coaches -- Walsh, George Seifert and Steve Mariucci -- while being
frequently outspoken says much about his ability to coach. Even
Walsh, who tolerated little dissent as a head coach, never succeeded
in fully muzzling him.

``In staff meetings, I try to say what needs to be said,''
McKittrick explained. ``If everybody just wants to say what they
think somebody wants to hear, after awhile, you get in a pretty sad
groove, I believe. Some people have mixed feelings about me opening
my mouth.''

Walsh agreed. He said, ``You have to understand him.''

McKittrick also was known for his aversion to cold-weather
clothing. During games in the Northeast and Midwest, he used to stand
on the sidelines wearing nothing heavier than a short-sleeved shirt,
regardless of the weather. Holmgren once told him he had to wear a
coat because it was so cold his teeth were chattering and he couldn't
be understood.

McKittrick said he simply didn't get as cold as other people, but
once he got the reputation for going
coatless, he admitted that he enjoyed it because line coaches don't
usually get much attention.

It was typical of McKittrick to continue to work during his
illness. He went through the 1982 season wearing a colostomy bag
because of surgery to remove his colon. The operation caused him to
miss the ceremony at which the 49ers received their first Super Bowl
rings, but three weeks after surgery, he was on the field coaching at
a mini-
camp.

Memorial services will be private. McKittrick is survived by his
wife of 42 years, Teckla, two adult sons, Mike and Ladd, and two
grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that
contributions be made to the Leo Adler Foundation-
Bobb McKittrick Scholarship through the U.S. Bank in Portland, Ore.

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